Programme Notes
Beethoven and Tchaikovsky Fri 4 September 2026 • 20.15
PROGRAMME conductor Kristian Sallinen piano Lukas Sternath Ludwig van Beethoven 1770-1827 Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73 ‘Emperor’ (1809) • Allegro • Adagio un poco mosso • Rondo: Allegro intermission Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 1840-1893 Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36 (1877-78) • Andante sostenuto - Moderato con anima • Andantino in modo di canzone • Scherzo (Pizzicato ostinato): Allegro • Finale: Allegro con fuoco concert ends at around 22:15 Most recent performances by our orchestra: Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5: Nov 2018, piano Kirill Gerstein, conductor Nathalie Stutzmann Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4: Nov 2023, conductor Maxim Emelyanychev
Cover: Photo Umberto Gnocchi (Unsplash)
Bombardment of Vienna, 11 May 1809. Painting by Louis Albert Guislain, Baron Bacler d’Albe, Coll. Versailles Palace
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Antonina Miliukova as newlyweds, Moscow 1877. Photo Ivan Dyagovchenko
Bravely onwards Masterpieces do not just come about by themselves. Sometimes the composer has really had to suffer for them. Beethoven wrote whilst at war; Tchaikovsky in the aftermath of a disastrous marriage. Beethoven
its assent; only then does the main theme begin. It surpasses everything that has gone before in its resoluteness. Like two soldiers, the powerful outer movements lift the bier, bearing the fragile Adagio like a wounded man. With this Fifth Piano Concerto, Beethoven composed unyielding music, something that no cannon could destroy. He dedicated it, as he did other important works, to Archduke Rudolph, a pupil and friend of his.
The bombardments caused severe devastation in Vienna. Beethoven’s house was situated just below the ramparts, and when Napoleon ordered the city walls to be demolished, it was left in a particularly vulnerable position. A little later, when the shelling began, he had to move in with his brother. There, in the cellar, you would find him with pillows over his head every time the cannon fire started up again. A sombre, fearful time. ‘What a destructive, chaotic life I see around me. Nothing but drums, cannons and human misery. One can only rely on blind chance now.’
Like two soldiers, the powerful outer movements lift the bier, bearing the fragile Adagio
Publisher J. B. Cramer dubbed Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto the ‘Emperor Concerto’. Quite rightly so, as it sounds very powerful and majestic. But would Beethoven himself have thought it a good idea? He had little time for emperors. In 1809, when he wrote the concerto, his home city of Vienna was overrun by Napoleon’s armies. A few years earlier Napolean had crowned himself emperor, fiercely criticised by Beethoven.
Some see Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto as his response to the surging tide of Napoleon’s victories. It opens in a striking manner: a powerful orchestral chord, immediately answered by enormous arpeggios from the solitary piano. The orchestra repeats its statement twice more, and the piano gives
The premiere took place in November 1811 in Leipzig. It was not until February 1812 that it was performed for the first time in Beethoven’s own city. Beethoven, himself once a piano virtuoso, was by then virtually deaf; he no longer performed and placed his trust in a new generation of soloists. It was his former pupil Carl Czerny, author of the infamous piano études, who took charge of the Viennese premiere. This earned him a glowing review in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung. The newspaper reported that Czerny had managed to overcome the greatest difficulties with precision and skill. It had, however, been a gruelling ordeal for the soloist, given the composition’s extraordinary length.
Nevertheless, the reviewer maintained, this piano concerto was a magnificent offspring of the mind. And that was, certainly given the circumstances under which Beethoven had been forced to work, a heroic achievement.
Tchaikovsky
To press on courageously, despite all adversity: that was what Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky told himself during the turbulent year of 1877. That year, he married Antonina Miljukova. She was over the moon, but the marriage made him deeply unhappy: by the end of their honeymoon, he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Tchaikovsky fled, and that was when the bickering over a divorce began. Against this backdrop, he wrote his Fourth Symphony, a passionate outburst of emotion. As well as in his symphony, Tchaikovsky was also able to pour out his heart to Nadezhda von Meck, who had stepped in as his patron that very same year. A lively correspondence blossomed between the two, in which they shared their joys and sorrows. Tchaikovsky soon referred to her as his ‘best friend’. In his letters, he gave a detailed account of the
Tchaikovsky and Beethoven
Tchaikovsky also corresponded with his fellow composer Sergei Taneyev about his Fourth Symphony. ‘You are quite right to call my symphony programmatic. But the programme is impossible to put into words: that would only invite ridicule. And call me naïve, but I believe the story behind the music is so clear that it can easily be understood without words. Moreover, I wasn’t trying to say anything new at all. Essentially, my symphony is an imitation of Beethoven’s Fifth: not of his musical ideas, but of the underlying concept.’
creation of his Fourth and dedicated the symphony to her. When asked, he also explained to von Meck the programme of the symphony – the story behind the music. ‘Movement I is the heart of the symphony… It represents Fate, the fatal force that time and again prevents the quest for happiness from reaching its goal and ceaselessly poisons the soul… Is it not better to turn away from reality and surrender to dreams? Part II depicts suffering at a different stage… It is the melancholy feeling that creeps up on someone when they sit alone at home in the evening, weary from their work… And yet it is wonderful to think back on years gone by. Part III: One lets one’s imagination run wild… the image of a drunken peasant… an old street song… military music. Part IV: If you cannot find joy within yourself, look around you. Go out amongst people. See how they know the art of being cheerful… But no sooner have you forgotten yourself… than the tireless Fate makes its presence felt once more… Rejoice in the happiness of others… To live is still possible.’ Stephen Westra
The inspiration may well have come from Beethoven, but the emotions expressed were entirely his own, Tchaikovsky emphasised. ‘There is not a single bar that I have not felt deeply myself and that does not echo my most sincere stirrings of the soul. I know you’ll laugh when you read this, because you’re sceptical and cynical. It seems that, despite your love of music, you cannot believe it is possible to compose out of an inner urge to express yourself. But just wait. Your turn will come.’
Photo: Tuomas Tenkanen
Photo: Peter Rigaud
Kristian Sallinen • conductor
Lukas Sternath • piano
Born: Espoo, Finland Current position: Chief Conductor Designate Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra (from August 2027) Education: first violin lessons at the Espoo Conservatory as a five-year-old, viola at the age of twelve; orchestral conducting with Jorma Panula, graduating in 2025 at the Sibelius Academy Helsinki with Sakari Oramo Breakthrough: 2023, debuts with Basel Symphony Orchestra and BBC Symphony Orchestra Subsequently: Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, Latvian National Symphony, Finnish National Opera and Ballet As a violist: former member of the Seele String Quartet, solo appearances with orchestras such as the Finnish Radio Symphony Debut Rotterdam Philharmonic: 2026
Born: Vienna, Austria Education: First musical training as a member of the Wiener Sängerknaben, piano lessons in Vienna with Anna Malikova and Alma Sauer at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst and in Hanover with Igor Levit and Paul Lewis at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Breakthrough: 2022, as winner of the First Prize and seven special awards at the ARD Music Competition Munich Subsequently: solo appearances with Wiener Philharmoniker, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Münchner Philharmoniker, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra; recitals in Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Tonhalle Zurich, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Wigmore Hall London; curator of the ‘Lukas Sternath Cycle’ in the Musikverein Vienna Debut Rotterdam Philharmonic: 2026
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Musicians Honorary Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin Lahav Shani Principal Guest Conductor Tarmo Peltokoski
Rosalinde Kluck León van den Berg Olfje van der Klein Jan Navarro Jutta Demuynck Cello Emanuele Silvestri Gustaw Bafeltowski Joanna Pachucka Daniel Petrovitsch Mario Rio Eelco Beinema Carla Schrijner Pepijn Meeuws Yi-Ting Fang Killian White Paul Stavridis
Clarinet/ Bass Clarinet Romke-Jan Wijmenga Bassoon Pieter Nuytten Lola Descours Marianne Prommel
First Violin Bassoon/ Marieke Blankestijn, Contrabassoon Concert Master Elias Agsteribbe Vlad Stanculeasa, Concert Master Horn Quirine Scheffers David Fernández Alonso Saskia Otto Felipe Freitas Maria Dingjan Wendy Leliveld Marie-José Schrijner Richard Speetjens Noëmi Bodden Laurens Otto Petra Visser Pierre Buizer Double Bass Sophia Torrenga Matthew Midgley Hadewijch Hofland Trumpet Ying Lai Green Annerien Stuker Alex Elia Jonathan Focquaert Alexandra van Beveren Arjen Leendertz Adrián Martínez Marie Duquesnoy Simon Wierenga Ricardo Neto Sarah Decamps Javier Clemen Martínez Giovanni Giardinella Mario Fernández Second Violin Trombone Charlotte Potgieter Pierre Volders Flute Laurens van Vliet Alexander Verbeek Juliette Hurel Elina Staphorsius Remko de Jager Joséphine Olech Jun Yi Dou Manon Gayet Bob Bruyn Bass trombone Eefje Habraken Rommert Groenhof Flute/Piccolo Maija Reinikainen Beatriz Baião Babette van den Berg Tuba Melanie Broers Martijn van Rijswijk Oboe Tobias Staub Karel Schoofs Timpani/ Robin Veldman Jesús Pinillos Rivera Percussion Annija Kolerta Anja van der Maten Danny van de Wal Viola Oboe/Cor Anglais Ronald Ent Martijn Boom Anne Huser Ron Tijhuis Jesús Iberti Rubira Roman Spitzer Galahad Samson Clarinet Harp José Moura Nunes Julien Hervé Albane Baron Kerstin Bonk Bruno Bonansea Janine Baller Alberto Sánchez García Veronika Lénártová